


Runaway

by sprouseheart



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Beware: Angst, Bonnie and Clyde aesthetic, Domestic Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gang Violence, Heavy Themes, Hurt/Comfort, Jughead is not playing games, Multi, Revenge, Self-Harm, betty is a badass, man down by Rihanna playing in the background
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 11:36:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19004995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprouseheart/pseuds/sprouseheart
Summary: After believing she just murdered her abusive husband, Betty Cooper runs away to Riverdale, seeking for the only one who could help her, the Serpent King himself: Jughead Jones.





	1. Fast as you can

 

Like a blond hurricane Betty ran up the stairs and locked herself in her husband’s closet, going to the drawers of his desk and hurriedly searching for the gun she had seen him hide once. Chuck was banging his body against the wooden door and she knew she didn’t had much time before he finally caught her.

She tried to take a deep breath so she could think more clearly, but her hands were shaking and her sweat cold. 

As soon as she found the gun and hid it behind her skirt, she only had time to get off the floor before he bursted into the room.

"I'm going to kill you!" he growled, tossing his body against hers, making them fall into the floor, his hands gripping her neck. Betty screamed, stretching her arms, placing her hands on her husband's face, trying to push him off her. But she was already very weak and he was literally a wrestler. She had no other choice.

"Stop!" She gasped, giving up pushing him away and dropping her arms to the sides of her body.

"You'll regret ever crossing my way." was what he said before she could reach behind her body and hold the gun in her hand.

The sound of the shot echoed like thunder through the house and Betty felt her heart stop a beat. Chuck’s eyes widened and he brought his hand to his stomach, the scarlet blood covering his fingers.

"What did you do?" he said before falling to the floor beside her. As she felt his hands leave her neck Betty could finally take a deep breath, starting to cough.

Betty got up with difficulty, not daring to look back as she ran out of the room and hurried into her bedroom, entering the bathroom and washing her hands in a hurry, staring at his blood pouring down the sink and mixing with the water.

She didn’t dare lift her face to face the mirror, just dried her hands and took some towels and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Returning to her closet she took a suitcase and threw some clothes inside. Betty just had time to get to the vault and take her jewels and the money inside before she heard him move in the other room.

As she left her bedroom, her gaze met his, his body kneeling on the floor, before she ran outside and took her car.

Even with the rain the ride from New York to Riverdale was not very long, but she knew she would have to leave the car before she got to the small town. As soon as she entered Greendale, Betty drove to Sweetwater River’s edge, picked up her things and got out of the car, soaking the towels with alcohol, she threw them into the car and then tossed her lighter inside.

She didn’t stay long enough to hear the explosion or watch the car that she won as a wedding anniversary gift end up in flames, instead she ran away as fast as she could through the woods along the river towards Riverdale.

As soon as she got to Southside she allowed herself to stop to breathe. She had no choice but to seek help from the boy she had once left in Riverdale. King of the Southside Serpents, Jughead Jones was the only person who could help her. Her only option left.

Now limping, Betty walked into Sunnyside Trailer Park and did the same walk she had done ten years ago, knocking on the Jones' trailer.

To her surprise, who opened the door was another old acquaintance: Sweet Pea.

"Betty Cooper?" he asked startled, staring at the girl.

"Where's Jughead?" she asked him in a hurry, wrapping her arms around her body as she felt the cold hit her.

"He lives on the Whyte Wyrm now... Betty what happened?" he asked, taking a step closer to look at her, but Betty pulled away, muttering a ‘thank you’ and turning her back on him, hurrying towards her next destination.

Betty needed to knock and call many times before and Jughead finally went down the stairs to open the main door of the bar.

Finding her wet figure, blood dripping down her clothes and bruises on her exposed skin, it took Jughead a minute to recognize the girl he'd once knew.

Betty Cooper did not look at all with the last memory he kept from her and as if he were facing a ghost, his body froze and his heart quickened.

"Betty?" he murmured, not sure if he was actually seeing her.

"I need your help, Jug." she finally said, bursting into tears. For the first time in ten years, he felt her arms embrace him again.

Jughead invited Betty to come in and they did not say much as Jughead wiped her bruises in the small, clumsy bathroom of his bedroom. Betty tried to face any place except his eyes, the fear and the shame expressed in her face. Memories from the beginning of that night flashed through her head, making her dizzy, wondering if she had left a trace behind.

"I killed him," she said, finally looking at the ex-boyfriend. "At least I wanted to kill him, but he'll probably survive." she whispered, feeling a chill climb up her spine with the thought of Chuck being alive.

"Who?" Jughead asked, tying a splint in her arm.

"My husband, Chuck. He always beat me up, but the last time ... he made me lose my son. I wanted to kill him, he deserved to die.” she choked on the words, feeling her tears stream warmly down her cheek.

"I don’t know what to say." Jughead murmured, looking deep into her green eyes. "Do you want to take a shower?" he asked, moving away from her body.

"I don’t know." she replied, staring at the bruises on her fingers. "Jughead, I'm so fucked up."

"Betty..." he opened his mouth to answer her, but no advice seemed to go through his mind. The woman standing in front of him was no longer the girl he'd seen grow up, the same one who wore pastel colors and hair always up in a ponytail. That girl had held his hands and whispered that she loved him when no one else seemed to. She had given her body and soul to him and swore the future would be better.

Ten years were between the teenagers they had been and this woman in front of him now, with a life and a story he did not know and was not part of.

So far.

"I'm here, Cooper. We're going to work this out." he finally said, holding her hands in his, wondering if it was smart to let her back into his life so many years later, just to sink him deeper into the mess he already was.


	2. Believe

Now dressed in a pair of pajamas she had put in her suitcase, Betty sipped her tea, sitting in one of the bar stools, watching as Jughead stack some chairs. He had gained more body and grew larger over the years, he also no longer wore the famous crown-shaped beanie from school years.

He looked older and faded than he used to. She imagine she did too.

"How long have you lived here?" she asked him, placing her mug on the bar counter.

"Since FP passed away last summer." he replied, without turning to face her. Betty swallowed, she knew that his relationship with his father wasn't easy, but losing him must have been painful.

"I'm so sorry." she murmured, putting her hands on her lap and staring at the floor. Jughead shrugged and stepped closer to her.

"I already owned the Whyte Wyrm at the time, so I decided to leave the trailer with Sweet Pea and come here." he added, crossing his arms and staring at her.

"Right." Betty said, uncertain of what she should say.

"How long have you been married?" he suddenly asked, walking to sit beside her. Betty let out a sigh.

"Seven years." she replied, receiving a surprised look from him. "I filed for divorce three years ago, it was when things got ugly."

"If you could, would you go back in time?" he asked with nostalgic sigh, staring at the bar stage. Betty smiled sideways.

"My life began to collapse the moment I left this town." Betty answered truthfully. Jughead turned to look into her eyes.

"If it's any consolation, mine too." he replied, his tone resentful. They went silent for a few minutes before Jughead got up.

"We'd better go to sleep, in the morning I'll ask the guys to get some news from New York." he said.

"Okay." Betty replied, getting up and following him to the second floor. Jughead had given her his bed and was going to sleep on the sofa behind the stage.

"Thank you for not turning your back on me, Jug." she said before he left. Jughead smirked.

"Sure." he replied, giving her one last look before leaving.

In the morning Betty woke up hearing chatter under the bar, she could recognize the voices of Jughead, Sweet Pea and Toni discussing about her situation. She thought it was best not to interrupt and went to the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

She looked even worse than she did last night. Unable to fall asleep, Betty now had large black, purplish dark circles under her eyes, mixed with the bruises from the slaps Chuck had given her the night before.

The exposed skin of her neck to the shoulders had marks from his hands, bringing back memories of when he tried to choke her. Betty was still not sure how she was alive.

Her lips were swollen and had a cut through, from when he punched her, they matched the cut on her eyebrow, the result from when he pushed her, making her head hit the kitchen cupboard.

On her arms there were cuts caused by her fall on the glass coffee table in the living room, on her right leg there was a cut made by Chuck himself, with one of the pieces of glass shard.

Betty looked the way she felt inside: broken.

She had filed for divorce years ago, but he denied.

Chuck was rich, influential and had good contacts, not to mention that he had a facade of a good guy and perfect husband of which no one suspected.

After fighting for years she finally gave up and accepted that it was her destiny. Betty no longer had her parents to run to, or the friends she had left behind, despite the diploma on the wall, she did not have a job and nowhere to go. She was stuck with that man.

In all the years she had shared with him, the only memories she had of happiness were from the day that she had discovered she was pregnant. The exam in her hands claimed that the baby was already four weeks old, a small seed of hope was born within her, with the thought that perhaps everything would change.

What she did not expect was that her husband would come home high that night and find out about the news. At the height of his anger, he threw her on the floor and kicked her belly.

Betty spent the rest of the night crying in a fetal position and when the blood ran down her legs, the last part of the girl she once were went away with it.

The first person to come in her mind when she decided to ran away was Jughead. She remembered the way he used to hold her in his chest and tell her she was the first and only girl he ever loved. He had been there for her, even after the Serpents happened, he never once looked at her like she was less than worth fighting for.

The night she left him, she had put on her clothes and took her backpack, she even allowed herself to cry while watching him peacefully sleep.

At the time she truly believed leaving was for the best. At least her parents and friends made her believe that. Jughead had just become a leader in the serpents and was becoming too involved in gang fights and drug dealings, and Betty didn’t want that life for herself.

She left for college and then she met Chuck.

He was all american athlete, handsome, polite and popular. His family had money and made her life so much easier. They took care of her in the big city, made her feel safe and part of something.

She believed she could eventually love him, so she said yes when he asked to marry her.

She believed they could build a family and have a future together like she had always dreamed of, so she forgave him when he hit her for the first time.

She believed she was trapped in a life that she had nowhere run, so when her parents died in a car crash, she saw herself selling her life and soul to the Claytons.

Noticing she was already crying, Betty took a deep breath and tried to let all those memories fade away. 

She was leaving the bathroom when Toni entered Jughead’s room. She still looked the same: black rock outfits, combat boots and purple hair. Made Betty feel back home.

“Nice to see you, Cooper.” she greeted, smiling at Betty.

“Toni, can you help me with something?” Betty asked and the next thing she knew they were at Toni’s trailer, hair bleacher and scissor in her hands. Wishing she could be someone else, she felt relieved when she saw the short white blond hair she now had.

“I like it.” Jughead said when he saw her, standing by her side at the bar. “Good job, Topaz.” he said to Toni, who was now  arranging the glasses.

“It’s the queen treatment.” Toni ironically said, winking at Betty and making Jughead roll his eyes. To ever think Betty Cooper was once the Serpent Queen.

“We’re opening in a few minutes, can I talk to you in my room?” he asked her and Betty just nodded with her head, following him above.

“Fangs found out Chuck went to NY hospital last night, he’s in a critical condition but the motherfucker is alive.” he said, looking sorry. Betty felt her heart race with the news, that meant it was only matter of time before he went after her.

“Apparently he told the police there was a invasion in his house and that he was alone.” Jughead held her hand, making her look at him. “Which means the police isn’t after you but he probably will be.”

“I want you to know that the Serpents and I will protect you from now on. You don’t have to worry because he will never get close to you again. You have my word, Betty.” he promised her.

“I believe in you, Jug.” she said, because she truly did. He once told her he would do anything for her, and he did.

If there was something she could believe in, it was in Jughead Jones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is what I imagine Betty's new hair look like: https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/190628996714171516/
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, let me know in the comments if I should continue!  
> thank you for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> like and comment if you enjoyed the first chapter!
> 
> see you next chapter! thanks for reading <3


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